Page 123 of Secret Gifts
Jase, don't. He could have you court-martialed.
“Have you completely lost your mind? Who the fuck do you think you are?” General Marks blares, his voice far too loud not to have been overheard by opposing forces.
Jase’s lips tighten to a thin line, and then he looks back at me with his glowing eyes stained with hesitance before turning back to face the arrogant general.
“Commander Jason Ericson,” he announces while pulling out his secret badge.
Everyone gasps in unison, all mouths gaping open and eyes widening in shock.
My heart hits the base of my stomach before regurgitating back up into my throat. I feel sick, betrayed, and so fucking stupid right now.
“Commander Ericson, Sir. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-”
“I know, General, but you did realize this was too risky to resume, and still you wanted to persevere. Now you’ve forced me to come out, making it impossible to continue my field detail without jeopardizing the mission. We’ll have to call in another team and hope they can catch the trail.”
Everyone looks as shocked as I do, but no one feels the betrayal I’m suffering. I rip the door open to the car, and I hide my tears as he joins me.
“Aria, I’m sorry, baby. I wanted to tell you, but-”
“But what?” I bark.
“You weren’t ready,” he sighs, and suddenly the car turns around to drive past the convoy as everyone else turns around to join us.
My tears fall feverishly down my cheeks, my blue contacts dissolving to nothing against the acid of my tears.
“My mother, Uncle Brazen, Aunt Angelica, and Uncle Grayson all know your identity, and no one said anything?” I sob out. “How the hell do you trust my entire family with your secret, but not me? How do you fuck me without telling me something like this, you stupid, selfish son of a bitch. I trusted you with my secret!”
“No you didn’t,” he quickly interjects. “Your dad trusted me with your secret, not you. I couldn’t tell you who I was because you fucking hated the commander. You thought him to be a coward.”
I scoff, “Now I know I was right. Only a coward can tell a girl he loves her, but not trust her enough to tell her something like this because he’s worried she’ll get upset.”
“Damn it, Aria. I was worried I’d fucking lose you. I love you, and -”
“Love me?” I cry out in interruption. “Bullshit. If you loved me, you would have told me before we fucked. You would have told me when you were reading my thoughts and knew I was falling in love. I would have fucking accepted it because I do love you. Knowing you only revealed your identity because you had to… Fuck you.”
I rip the door free from the moving vehicle, and he slams on the brakes as I roll out of the car and jump to my feet. He follows me out, and all the cars stop to watch our pathetic drama roll out under the night sky.
I grab my darkest sunglasses out of my bag and pull them up to hide my violet eyes, since I won't be able to stop crying long enough to replace my contacts.
“Aria, please get back in the car and talk to me, baby.”
“Stop calling me baby, Commander. I have nothing left to say to you, Commander, Sir. I’ll ride back with someone else.”
At least now I know why I was fucking grounded. He didn’t want me catching on to his fucking secret. I’m so damn stupid!
“No, I grounded you to keep you safe,” he quickly inserts, despite the fact the prying ears of our group never heard my part of that conversation.
I stop and slowly turn around to face him before walking to be within inches from his body as I whisper, “I’ve been hurt. I’ve been on the cusp of death before. I’ve felt the devil’s breath on my neck, and I’ve never been so fucking destroyed as I am right now. The only thing you should have done to keep me safe was stay the fuck away from me.”
My slicing words show no mercy as the pain pronounces itself in his teary eyes. I turn away, my mind racing with all the damn obvious signs to slap me in the face for my stupidity, and then I jump in the backseat of a random hummer.
No one says anything to me. No one even moves. The air in the vehicle is almost too stiff to breathe right now. It’s so quiet you can hear the pieces of my heart falling and shattering one by one. I just stare out the window with my dark shades to keep my violet eyes a secret.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, but the music is turned up in time to drown it out. I don’t feel like hearing the findings of the masked hybrid right now. Let the fucking scorpions take me. Nothing can hurt me as badly as Jase has tonight.
C
hapter 17
